Setting Up Stalls – Chapter 103

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.¹

Kaixin’s mom chuckled and agreed, “If Kaixin comes home and finds out you visited while she was out, she’ll definitely cry her eyes out.” It wasn’t just Kaixin who would cry; the landlord’s dog was about to cry too. It kept biting Sun Miao’s shoelaces, not wanting her to leave. It was only when the landlord’s elderly family member came and picked it up that Sun Miao was rescued.

“Next time, next time I come, I’ll bring more tasty treats for Kaixin.”

She was still thinking about the landlord’s one and a third mu² of land, and the local, free-range eggs laid by their old hen. When she ate by herself, she didn’t really care; eggs from the wet market were fine. But now that she was living with Su Ruixi, she always wanted to get her some good food.

So, even though she had moved out, she would probably come back from time to time to stock up on good ingredients for home.

After a brief chat, Sun Miao left, carrying the old hen. The hen clucked noisily, and Sun Miao just tossed it onto her food cart, which infuriated the system. Sun Miao couldn’t care less about the system; humming a tune, she hurried home. Because she had taken a detour, it took a little longer, and Sun Miao didn’t get home until nearly six o’clock.

She had just reached the entrance and hadn’t even fumbled for the remote Su Ruixi had given her from the small bag she always carried, when she saw the garage’s rolling shutter door open by itself. Sun Miao watched as Su Ruixi stood just inside the doorway, still wearing the same clothes from earlier, a slight smile on her face as she looked at Sun Miao.

How wonderful, to have someone waiting for you to come home.

Sun Miao felt her heart flutter again. A lover and a housemate were, indeed, different.

A housemate wouldn’t wait for you, but a lover would. Sun Miao knew that their interactions before had been a little awkward, more like housemates under the same roof than cohabiting lovers. But at this very moment, realizing that she had a place to return to, and that her lover would be waiting for her there, Sun Miao felt her heart grow warm and fervent.

She drove her tricycle inside. Just as the vehicle came to a steady stop and she pulled the handbrake, Sun Miao hopped off.

Su Ruixi’s “You’re back,” made Sun Miao immediately break into a wide smile. “I’m back~”

The atmosphere between them was just right when, suddenly, the old hen on the food cart started clucking “Cluck, cluck!” completely ruining the mood. Su Ruixi shot a death glare at the old hen, which actually shivered under her gaze. Only then did Su Ruixi ask, “Don’t we still have a lot of broth cubes? Why did you buy another old hen?”

“This one is a free-range chicken, raised in the open. It’s delicious.” Sun Miao didn’t say she bought it specifically for Su Ruixi; that would be too deliberate.

Hearing the last three words, “It’s delicious,” Su Ruixi’s expression softened, becoming almost gentle. “We were thinking the same thing. I was actually looking for a farm with good chickens, and you just went ahead and bought one.”

“My previous landlord happened to be raising them, so I just bought one today on the way.”

After exchanging a few words, Sun Miao thought about slaughtering the chicken first. Having gained experience as a helper the day before, Su Ruixi immediately volunteered, “I’ll go boil some hot water!”

“Okay.” Sun Miao smiled. “Then, before the water boils, I’ll go to the kitchen and prepare the vegetables.”

Sun Miao knew they had okra, so she planned to make blanched okra. Although washing it had slightly damaged the okra’s integrity, it was still usable. Sun Miao put water on to boil in a pot, while Su Ruixi filled a kettle with water and set it to boil beside her. They temporarily left the old hen in the garage, planning to deal with it later.

Once the water in the pot boiled, the okra went in. After blanching for two to three minutes, it was removed, rinsed in cold water, and then cut in half. Next came the preparation of the sauce. The sauce was simple to make: minced garlic, oyster sauce, light soy sauce, plus a little white sugar and salt, with a bit of water stirred in, made a versatile dressing.

According to Sun Miao’s taste, she would definitely sprinkle some xiaomi chili peppers³. However, Su Ruixi couldn’t handle spicy food, and Sun Miao didn’t absolutely need it, so she decided to leave them out.

After adding the sauce, she heated oil in a pan. Once the oil was hot, she drizzled it over the okra, and the aroma instantly wafted up.

Okra actually looks quite pretty. After trimming the ends, each piece was about five or six centimeters long. Divided into two halves, the white, round “pearls” inside dotted the green on both sides. Complemented by the brown sauce and white minced garlic, it looked exceptionally appealing.

With the okra done, Sun Miao thought for a moment. She had returned quite late today. Looking at the groceries Su Ruixi had bought, she saw steak. Following an online recipe, she pan-fried the steak. Fortunately, pan-frying steak didn’t take much time; including prep work, it was about ten minutes.

This was even considering Su Ruixi’s stomach issues, as she couldn’t eat it too rare, so Sun Miao had deliberately cooked it to eight or nine-tenths done.

If she were catering to Western preferences for bloody, rare steak, it would have been done in two or three minutes. Finally, she made a dish of broccoli in superior broth, using a broth cube to quickly whip up a vegetable soup. After finishing these, Sun Miao planned to go slaughter the chicken.

She didn’t let Su Ruixi follow, even when Su Ruixi wanted to come and watch, Sun Miao stopped her. She even told Su Ruixi, “I’ll clean up the garage properly. Don’t come. What if blood accidentally splatters on you?”

In reality, with Sun Miao’s chicken-slaughtering skills, she could guarantee not a single drop of blood would spill. And Su Ruixi, having her own little thoughts, didn’t insist on following.

While Sun Miao was outside slaughtering the chicken, Su Ruixi busied herself setting up the dining room. She even specially found a tablecloth with a lace border, and arranged the dishes Sun Miao had cooked, the scented candles she had bought, and some Chinese roses she had casually picked from their neighbor Zhou Ling’s yard. The roses were already blooming; although not at their peak, they were still very beautiful.

Strictly speaking, what Su Ruixi was doing was akin to borrowing flowers to offer to Buddha⁴, since the flowers belonged to Zhou Ling, and the food was all cooked by Sun Miao.

But it didn’t matter. What was important was spending a romantic meal with Sun Miao.

By the time Sun Miao had finished preparing the chicken and came inside, she was greeted by the pleasant scent of the scented candles. She paused for a moment, then realized Su Ruixi had prepared a candlelight dinner.

In that instant, Sun Miao felt a little flustered, because—she had never experienced anything like this before. She wasn’t a person who cared much for a sense of ceremony; her life hadn’t allowed her to have a sense of ceremony, nor had it allowed her to experience romance.

So, the moment she saw the candlelight dinner, a “Wow” flashed through her mind, quickly followed by silence. Finally, she thought: I should learn how to love others. With that, she put on a smile again and said to Su Ruixi, “Susu-jie, wait for me a moment, I’m going to take a shower first.”

She postponed dinner, and Su Ruixi had no complaints, just urged her to go quickly. Before going, however, Sun Miao first dealt with the chicken in her hands, putting it in a pot to simmer slowly over low heat. She took a shower, dried her hair, and asked the system to keep an eye on the chicken soup for her.

After coming downstairs and confirming the chicken soup was fine, she started a second round of simmering. Once all this was done, she finally returned to the dining room and sat down opposite Su Ruixi.

Sun Miao didn’t have any particularly nice clothes; they were all simple. So, even if she wanted to change into something prettier, she didn’t have anything. Usually, it didn’t bother her, but in such a seemingly romantic setting, she couldn’t help but feel a little awkward. But Su Ruixi, sitting opposite her, didn’t think so. She only felt that Sun Miao, bathed in the candlelight, looked incredibly beautiful.

Su Ruixi hadn’t turned off all the lights. If there was no other light source, relying solely on the glow of the scented candles would be a bit harsh on the eyes; the dim light might even cause one to eat into their nose. Su Ruixi had dimmed the main lights, and in the somewhat dusky illumination, the candlelight appeared even more beautiful.

The candlelight was a soft yellow, falling on Sun Miao’s face, making her features appear even gentler. Su Ruixi loved seeing Sun Miao like this. Usually, she was like a little sun, bringing warmth to everyone around her. Now, however, she had become Su Ruixi’s exclusive moonlight, warm and tender.

But her sudden little romantic gesture seemed to have startled Sun Miao, causing hesitation and a hint of self-doubt to appear on her face. Su Ruixi explained softly, “I don’t mean anything else by it. It’s just that yesterday was 520, and we didn’t really celebrate it. Today is 521, so I thought we could make up for it a little.”

Only then did Sun Miao belatedly realize what this was about. She knew today was May 21st; she had even mentioned it while chatting with Zhou Ling and the others. But for Sun Miao, whether it was 520 or 521, they were just ordinary days. She really had no concept of romance in her mind.

This realization made her feel a little ashamed. She said, somewhat embarrassed, “I… I forgot about that. Yesterday, I even took you to the wet market…”

“I quite liked it, it’s fine.” Su Ruixi sensed the apology in her tone, shook her head slightly, and didn’t say much. “But, we can celebrate together today.”

“Mm.” The awkwardness on Sun Miao’s face also eased, and the atmosphere between them slowly returned to normal. Once a topic was broached, it was hard to stop, especially for Sun Miao. She talked about many things that happened today, including Zhou Ling and her daughter coming over later, and how they said her chicken soup was better than Yuanfulou’s.

Sun Miao actually didn’t know what kind of restaurant Yuanfulou was, but for Zhou Ling and her daughter to mention it, it must be a pretty good one.

Su Ruixi wholeheartedly agreed with this statement. “It is better than Yuanfulou’s.” She was someone who could order takeout from Yuanfulou every day, so her words carried particular conviction. Hearing Su Ruixi say this, Sun Miao couldn’t help but smile.

“You guys like what I make, so you think I’m better than them. In the eyes of people who like their food, what I make is definitely far inferior.”

“That’s not true at all. Sun Miao, what you make is just delicious.”

Su Ruixi was very serious when she said this, her eyes shining brightly, enhanced by the scented candles. Sun Miao didn’t take this to heart, merely thinking Su Ruixi was being partial to her. But this kind of partiality also made Sun Miao feel very good.

While talking, the two didn’t forget to eat their dinner. The steak Sun Miao had pan-fried was eight or nine-tenths cooked; it wasn’t exceptionally tender, but for Su Ruixi, it was just right. Sun Miao also felt that the steak she made today was extremely delicious.

She had cooked beef before, and the quality of the beef she bought was decent, but compared to the quality of Su Ruixi’s steak, it was like a novice sorcerer meeting a master sorcerer.

While eating, Su Ruixi exclaimed, “This steak is so delicious.”

Sun Miao chimed in, “Yeah, it’s really good.”

Su Ruixi said it was Sun Miao’s exquisite skill; Sun Miao praised Su Ruixi for buying good quality beef.

In the end, they looked at each other across the candles and smiled, both feeling that it was a case of beauty being in the eye of the beholder.

---

---